


chains? they cannot hold you, dear

by Phoenix_Allura (Artemis_Autumn_Marie)



Series: Nix's Whumptober 2019 [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Blood, Chains, Fluff, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Force-Sensitive Leia Organa, Found Family, Gen, Hurt Finn (Star Wars), I don't seem to be very good at writing only angst/whump fics, M/M, Pain, Rescue, Scars, Swimming mention, Torture, Whumptober 2019, but's that's okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:06:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22078189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Autumn_Marie/pseuds/Phoenix_Allura
Summary: Whumptober Day 9, at long last: ShackledFinn volunteered for this infiltration mission, as insane as it seems. It went exactly how it was supposed to. He was lucky, too.Lucky he had a damn good pilot for a boyfriend and an entire Resistance ready to back him up when he needed it most.(And maybe, just maybe, they're his family, too. Just a little bit.)
Relationships: Leia Organa & Finn, Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey, Poe Dameron/Finn
Series: Nix's Whumptober 2019 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1507226
Kudos: 122
Collections: Finn Centric Recommendations





	chains? they cannot hold you, dear

Finn tugged at his restraints--they were different. Odd.

Cold metal, with chains holding him to the wall. Finn took a deep breath and cataloged his surroundings.

Dimly lit room, the walls the same as the rest of every First Order ship. The table that all the torture cells had. Guards outside, no doubt. 

Finn looked up. The chains had been drilled in recently, and badly, at that.

Finally looking at the metal cuffs, Finn realized that these were restraints he couldn’t get out of.

Right. Because part of ‘trooper training was getting out of restraints, and these were the ones they weren't trained on, just shown.

Obsolete, they’d been called.

Now Finn was wondering if there was another reason.

Either way, he couldn't get out of these quickly enough to escape detection. Even yanking the chains wouldn't help him--loud and not likely to pull out of the wall.

So he'd have to wait for another opportunity.

Finn hated waiting.

"I'd like to speak to him."

"Sir, are you sure? He's a traitor and easily dealt with."

"I'm certain. He may have the information we need."

Kylo Ren stepped into Finn's sightline a few moments later.

"You were one of the best, FN-2187. You would have made it far here. Phasma wanted to promote you." He paused for a second, as if waiting. "Why did you leave?"

That… was not the question Finn had been expecting.

"We were shooting unarmed civilians for one man, sir." Finn cursed himself. He was falling back into old habits already.

"That couldn't have been the only thing." Kylo Ren circled him. "No, a model 'trooper like you… I've seen your records. Top of the ranks since you started training. Very impressive. I'm sure the Resistance gets a lot of use out of you." Finn almost bristled, but kept himself from tensing when he felt Kylo Ren breach his mind, thoughts still hidden behind the shield the General had helped him make. He'd been expecting this.

Ren couldn't find out he was Force-sensitive.

Even so, Finn let a few thoughts slip, ones he could afford to lose.

"You really don't know anything, do you?" Ren laughed at him. "You're still only cannon fodder. You just changed outfits. And for what? Much worse training conditions, disorder, disease."

"Better food, though." Finn snapped back.

"I suppose it would be. Better company, I expect you'd say. But you never got along with any of your platoon. Never got a nickname, even." How did Ren know that? It wouldn't have been in his file. Phasma didn't care about the nicknames of her soldiers. Finn tugged on the cuffs again, even knowing it was futile.

“Yes, those chains. We chose those because if you pull enough, you’ll bleed.” Ren sounded like he was smirking. “You not knowing how to get out of them is just an added bonus.” Finn wondered what this chatter was for. 

Other than to serve as a distraction.

“I’ve taken the liberty of bringing what remains of your platoon for a visit.” Now that he was focusing, Finn could hear footsteps approaching quickly. “I think I’ll let them handle you first.” Slip was dead, he knew that. Nines and Zeroes might be alive, he wasn’t sure. They had been the core five of their platoon, the other FNs in their own groups.

“Remember, you were once their leader.” Ren may as well have spit in his face. They would have been reconditioned because of him.

Stars, he was in trouble.

“He’s right here. Shouldn’t cause you any trouble.”

“Thank you, sir.” Nines. Finn heard more than saw Ren leave the room. Nines looked down at him, helmet on.

“Traitor.” He hissed the word. “Rebel scum. You got Slip killed.” Finn straightened as best as he could. They all knew that they’d been trained for the purpose of fighting and dying for the First Order; Slip’s death was not his fault.

“What do you know about the Resistance’s plans? Are they even going to come rescue you?” Nines had only allowed himself a moment of emotion, then.

Maybe he would be punished for showing more.

“Get him onto the table.” Nines ordered, and Finn’s cuffs were unhooked from the wall. They tossed him up, intending it to hurt. 

“Ren will be back, to dig in your head. But for now, I have you. And I,” He glanced at the three ‘troopers around the table, “Have a new platoon to lead.” He was gloating, Finn realized. Thought that Finn would care about something so little, so petty, as being lead ‘trooper. Nines took his helmet off.

“Let’s start, shall we?” His eyes were gleaming.

The interrogation started the way all interrogations start: With a question.

“Where is the Resistance located?” Finn didn’t answer, so Nines brought out the knives. Unfortunately for Nines, the First Order wasn’t about to change its torture methods because of one defector, so Finn knew exactly what was coming.

When Nines realized that carving up Finn’s chest wouldn’t work, he moved on to whips--metal ones, with barbs designed to rip up skin. They flipped Finn onto his chest--he bit his lip as his blood made the slick and he slid, just a little, enough to pull the wounds and make them scream--and struck, three lashes at once.

It took all of Finn’s willpower not to scream at the bright, sharp, searing feeling that took over his entire back. His scar was _burning,_ his back felt it might never be whole again.

But Finn, at thirteen, had gone through torture training without screaming more than five times. 

At fourteen, it’d been three.

By the time he was sixteen, he could make it through without screaming.

And he wasn’t going to give Nines the satisfaction of knowing he’d beaten Finn, that he was giving in.

He wasn’t going to give up the Resistance--give up Poe, Rey, General Organa--if it killed him.

“FN-2187, where is the current Resistance base? Who are its leaders? What help is the Republic offering? Are they coming for you?” Nines snarled the questions, punctuating each with a lash.

Finn’s lips and tongue definitely looked like he was a vampire after a feeding.

Stars, he'd been gone for barely a day and he already missed the base. Missed Poe and his references and Snap and Jess introducing him and Rey to all kinds of bad holo-vids that they insisted were 'important for cultural understanding.'

“Do you really think they’ll come for you? They won’t.” Nines slapped him hard across the face. “Chain him back up. Ren will want to have a look in his mind before we decide how to kill him.” Finn was yanked off the table despite the tacky blood on his chest. The barely-scabbed wounds started bleeding again, and Finn could feel the blood racing down his back. They chained him so he was sitting painfully straight, back against the cool wall.

At least that was a little soothing.

“Inform Kylo Ren we await his instructions.” Nines ordered another ‘trooper.

“And you await his summoning. You have training, FN-2199. Report to the sim deck 23, room 6.” Phasma. FNs only trained in room 20, though. Room 6 was for officer track (Finn had been there more than once) or those failing (Slip had gone too, a few times. He’d come back shaken and scared.).

“You are relieved of guard duty.” He heard her the other ‘troopers. “Your replacements will be along shortly. Until then, I will watch.” He heard Nines grumble, but everyone must have left, because soon he was staring down Phasma’s mask.

“Traitor.”

“Phasma.”

“FN-2199 really did a number on you. Ren isn’t going to like that.” She leaned him forward with more care than he’d ever known her to show. “If your little rebel scum friends are coming, they’ll be in for a surprise.” Phasma placed him back against the wall. She left him alone again, guarding the door.

It wasn’t like he could escape in his state even if he got the cuffs off. The blood trail alone would give him away, no matter what else he did to cover his tracks.

So escape wasn’t an option, unless he could suddenly use the Force to heal really quickly and then break the cuffs off.

As he had nothing better to do, Finn decided to give it a try. He closed his eyes and slipped into the meditative state he was now used to.

Of course, it didn’t work.

(Finn hadn’t expected it to, and later he’d realize that might have been part of the problem.)

Finn stayed in his meditative state for a while anyway. There wasn’t any harm in it, as long as he didn’t reach for Rey or General Organa, and it distracted him from the pain.

“Captain.”

“Sir.” Finn opened his eyes. 

“Would you like to hear the traitor spill his secrets?” Ren sounded almost amused. “I’m sure I can make him talk.”

“His former platoon tried their best, sir.”

“I have ways they do not. After you, Captain.” Finn listened as they entered the cell.

“Shall I move him to the table for you, sir?”

“No, leave him where he is.” Ren raised a hand. “Earlier, he truly believed that he didn’t know anything. Let’s see if that lashing has brought anything to mind.” Finn slid back behind the shield, this time easing a few Resistance ‘secrets’ forward. He let his hope that he would be rescued slip, as well his fear.

It had to work.

Ren regarded him with an odd look, but pulled back.

“He really doesn’t know anything. He wants them to come for him, but isn’t sure if they will. He fears dying here, alone.”

“Shall I let his platoon finish the job?”

“Wait two hours. If he’s not dead from blood loss then, they can do as they wish.”

“Yes, sir.” Finn was left alone. Two hours.

He waited until Ren’s presence had retreated far enough that he could reach out and nudge Rey.

‘Rey!’

It took her a few minutes to respond.

‘How long, Finn?’

‘An hour and a half at most. Blood loss.’ Finn had to keep this short. Rey would let the general know, and they’d have fighters in atmo soon if they didn’t already.

‘Hold on, Finn. I’ve given the signal. We’re coming.’ Finn didn’t respond, instead going back to meditating, even as he kept his senses open to the faint sounds in the hallway.

This was a fight he would be useless for.

Finn wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he heard the shooting in the hall, but he did know that it was Poe.

The shouting certainly helped with that.

“Finn! Hey, buddy, you ready to-” Poe cut himself off, staring at him. “What did they do to you?”

“Barbed lashing and knives.” Finn swallowed the blood in his mouth and ignored the stinging of his lips and tongue. He reached out for Poe, unable to hide his wince. “Let’s just get out of here, please.”

“Yeah, of course.” It took a few minutes, but Poe managed to pick the locks on the cuffs. Finn used the chains and the wall (covered in his blood) to pull himself to his feet before leaning on Poe.

“We’re not far from the Falcon, we’ll get you back and you’ll be in medical soon,” Poe told him. He looked like he was going to continue (Finn thought Poe was panicking worse than Finn himself.).

“Poe.”

“Yes?”

“Stop panicking. Let’s just get going.”

“How are you not screaming right now?” Poe asked. Finn shrugged and didn’t bother to hide the wince that followed.

“Stormtroopers get torture training, Poe. Now can we just get out of here?” Poe carefully pulled him close.

“Rey’s here, Jess is running distraction outside. We’ve got a few minutes. We can move slowly.”

“No, we can’t. The faster we get out of here, the better.” Finn could ignore the pain. He was good at that. Poe directed them through the halls, jogging, checking over his shoulder the whole time.

“You didn’t have any guards.”

“No, Phasma was there. I’m guessing that she moved when this started. It’s not like I could get out on my own anyway, and they all thought I was going to die.”

“I swear I am finding a bacta lake and putting you in it with a therapist as soon as I possibly can,” Poe muttered. Finn laughed at his expression.

“I have a therapist, Poe, and I’m sure I’ll be fine. Let’s just focus on getting back to base, okay?” They didn’t speak for a while after that, Poe squeezing him softly when they needed to turn. More than once, they almost ran straight into a shoot-out, and once they did, but that time they were lucky, being caught behind fellow Resistance members.

“How many people came?” Finn’s speech was a bit slurred, and he was getting dizzy.

“Most of the Resistance, Mr. Big Deal.” Poe’s tone was light, but he looked worried. “They’ll cover us. It’s not far now, only a few more turns.” Poe took most of Finn’s weight, half-dragging him.

“Rey!” Finn watched her sprint toward them, fight abandoned.

‘Finn, you look terrible.’

‘Thanks, it’s the blood loss.’ Finn thought back. He felt her amusement, a bright spot in the worry and fear she was projecting. 

“We’re covered, Poe. Let’s get out of here.” Rey pulled Finn’s right arm over her shoulder. They could move faster now, and so they did, reaching the Falcon in only a few minutes. General Organa was waiting, and so was a medic. Finn straightened automatically.

“Good afternoon, General.”

“At ease, Finn. Come, let’s get those wounds of yours looked at. Poe, Rey, we can leave whenever you feel ready.” They’d be in atmo-and more fighting, Finn suspected-in minutes.

“Are we pulling everyone out?” Finn asked her as he was led to the cot in the wall.

“Yes. The Falcon is the signal. But don’t worry about that, Finn.”

“What are your pain levels? Stop ignoring the pain and actually think about it and tell me.” The medic said.

“Finn, this is my personal doctor from the Republic, Amara Res.” General Organa said gently. “Amara, be nice, this is Finn Organa.” Finn shot her a confused look.

“I didn’t know you made a habit of adopting, Leia.”

“Oh, I don’t.”

“So, pain levels?” Dr. Res asked even as she pressed bacta patches to the shallower knife wounds in his chest.

“The knife wounds are a 5, the lashes are an 8,” Finn said. He’d been made to memorize the pain scale when it became clear he had no idea that what most people would call bad pain was bad.

“I see. I can give you painkillers, of course, and I have sedatives on hand if you’d like.”

“Painkillers, yes. Sedatives, no.” Finn answered. He still felt dizzy. She swabbed his arm quickly and gave him a shot.

“Are you dizzy?”

“Yes,” Finn answered. “It’s the blood loss.”

“You’re certainly right about that. Leia, can you assist me, please?”

“What do you need?” Finn tuned them out as they started discussing ways to help him that would still enable him to be moved to the medbay back on base.

“We’ve landed, Finn, do you want to walk or would you like a stretcher?” Leia asked.

“He should be on a stretcher.” Dr. Res grumbled.

“That would hurt either his back or his front, Amara, let him pick.”

“I’ll walk.” Finn decided. He’d be fine until they got to the medbay, where they would give him more drugs and then submerge him in bacta until he was healed.

Unfortunately for Finn, he would not remember any of that walk.

“Morning, Finn!” He did remember Poe’s wake-up call a few days later. “I brought you caf and bananas. Eat up!” BB-8 dropped five bananas on his lap, and Poe helped him sit up and sip the caf.

“You were out for two days. They wanted to be safe. You shouldn’t scar too badly.”

“Finish your caf, Finn, then I’m sending Poe and BB-8 on their way.” Dr. Res stood over him. “And Mr. Dameron, you can tell those waiting outside that no one is allowed in without Finn’s permission and my approval.”

“Yes, doctor.”

“You didn’t need surgery this time, Mr. Organa. Your back will heal up well, but I’m ordering you more physiotherapy. It will help get you more range of motion back, as I suspect you’ve been missing some. When you’ve completed that, I’ll give Mr. Dameron permission to take you to the bacta lake, as well as a map to it.” Dr. Res had him sit up and do a few stretches, then changed the bacta sheet on his back and the bacta patches on his chest. He’d need those for a few more days, it seemed.

“May I come in, Amara?” 

“Of course, Leia. He’s your boy, isn’t he?”

“That makes it sound like we’re paramours.” General Organa laughed. “But that’s what I came to clear with him, actually. Finn, how do you feel about officially taking the name Organa as yours?”

“Are you sure, General?”

“I am, Finn. And call me Leia.”

“Shall I ready adoption papers?” Dr. Res asked, eyes bright.

“Maybe just send a droid for a set of identification papers. I’ll help you fill them out.” Leia smiled at Finn.

Maybe everything would work out, just this once.

Finn had had a hard few weeks. Maybe it was because he’d done this before and now he had to go through it all again. 

“Finn, come on!” Poe was practically begging. “Dr. Res has given you permission to go on a short trip.”

“And where are we going?”

“Somewhere I should have taken you a long time ago.” Poe wouldn’t tell him, though Finn had his suspicions.

“And does Leia know about this?”

“She’s given me leave for the next two days, Finn, she knows.” Poe had an arm wrapped around his waist; his back still twinged when he walked most of the time.

(It was something he didn’t think would ever go away.)

They got onto the tiny freighter and had hardly even left atmo when Poe brought them back in and landed in a clearing.

“I didn’t know there were forests on D’Qar.” Finn said. Poe laughed.

“Just the one. There’s a really nice lake, it’s not too far. We could have walked it and made it into an overnight trip, but I don’t think it’d work out so well.” Now Poe seemed sad.

“Next time we get leave,” Finn promised. “Dr. Kes says I’ll be done with daily physical therapy soon and that the scarring should be reduced when she has a shipment of that new cream they made.”

“That’s good, Finn. Will they give that to everyone?”

“No; if the scar doesn’t impede physical function, you have to order your own.” They walked in silence, Poe holding Finn’s hand. He focused on that, if only to give him a reason to avoid thinking about the little sparks of pain in his back.

(Finn hadn’t needed an excuse to think about Poe since he’d met him. It just kind of happened, and Finn certainly wasn’t going to complain.)

Finn didn’t think he’d ever get over the fact that he and Poe were  _ dating _ now, that he had a  _ boyfriend _ , someone who was fun and smart and kind and passionate about all manner of things. Finn smiled to himself, feeling a bit goofy, as he kept thinking about Poe. He was a great leader and friend, a good listener, made people laugh… Cheated at cards, maybe, but Finn couldn’t prove that one.

“What are you thinking about that’s got you all sappy?” Poe asked.

“You.” Finn grinned at him, cheeky now.

“Oh, are you? Don’t worry, we have to take our clothes off where we’re going.” Finn shoved his shoulder lightly.

“Not like that, dumbass. How much farther?”

“We’re here.” Poe pushed aside a tree branch, revealing a sparkling green lake. “It’s a bacta lake. It might help your pain and speed up healing more.” Poe was bouncing lightly on the balls of his feet, and Finn reached over and kissed him.

“Thank you, Poe.” He leaned his head onto Poe’s shoulder and looked up at him. “How about we go swimming, huh?”

Yeah, everything was going to be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy New Year!  
> This is both my first Stars Wars fic and my first fic of 2020. May there be many more.  
> I didn't come up with the idea of bacta lakes, I read it in another fic on here, but I can't find it to give credit. If you know that fic, let me know who the author is so I can credit them!  
> I hope you liked it, let me know what you thought!  
> As always,  
> Nix


End file.
